The Cincinnati Exchange Program mobile van parked at Olde Gate Plaza on Northland Boulevard in Springdale Feb. 10, the first day for the needle exchange program.

Written by

Kelly McBride

The first needle exchange program in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky opened for business here Monday.

The Cincinnati Exchange Program was created to help fight a dramatic increase in hepatitis C cases linked to intravenous heroin use. The program is the third in Ohio, following the lead of Cleveland and Portsmouth.

The short-term goal of the needle exchange, now housed in a large white van parked twice a week on a shopping center's parking lot, is to help drug users who are not yet ready for recovery stay alive and as healthy as possible until they can enter drug treatment. The ultimate ...